


Cohorts

by Fabrisse



Series: Rebuilding the Table [3]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Kingsman Training, M/M, Relationship(s), Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 07:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4616472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are the four cohorts Merlin trains before the one we see in the movie: Tristan, Beaumains, Erec, and Lancelot.  Each has its own challenges.  </p><p>Harry, and what they have together, can be challenging, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. TRISTAN December 1987 - August 1988

**Author's Note:**

> **Chibifukurou** did the lovely, lovely art work for this. It's embedded at the appropriate scene in chapter 3. I wish I could add a few more "lovelies" to the description, because it really is a beautiful picture for the scene.
> 
> Each chapter marks its time frame. The story _Teaching_ comes during the early part of the first chapter.
> 
> I'd also like to offer an apology to the organizers of the Kingsman Bang. When I sent the final in, I didn't expect to write another chapter.

He’d only been Merlin three months, when his first knight was killed. At 34, Tristan had barely been at the table seven years. Bad analysis had put him in a position where he faced overwhelming odds with no way to contact Merlin for extraction. At least Kingsman had gotten his body back. Merlin had seen death before, inflicted it even; it was the first time he’d thrown up seeing a body.

Firing the current Morgan had been just a first step. With the table’s permission, he was overhauling the training curriculum. He’d sent questionnaires to all the knights asking two major questions: What qualities did they feel were most important in a Kingsman Knight? And what had their training left them unprepared for? There were other questions, too, including what purpose they thought each test fulfilled.

The information that came back to him gave a much better perspective on the tasks. 

Orienteering would be kept, but moved to earlier in the process with an extra week of training preceding the test. He also added a blanket and an actual pack to the standard accoutrements of compass and canteen filled with water. He also changed how the skills were weighted to determine where candidates might be placed, what extra items they might get, and which time frame they’d be given.

He added several intellectual tests. Arthur had queried him about his bias toward maths when he saw the revised test paper. Merlin had pointed out that at least two recent missions had hinged on financial information that had to be digested quickly. Arthur nodded and then picked up the other test.

“Esperanto?” he said.

“Most candidates come to us with French or German. Some have Italian or Spanish, but with the exception of Dinadan who grew up in Hong Kong, we don’t have anyone who arrives with a far eastern or middle eastern language. Galahad’s learnt Russian. He can handle Romanian and reads some Czech. I know he’s currently learning Serbian, but most of the knights pick one other language and many of them never learn it well.”

“Which doesn’t explain Esperanto,” Arthur said.

“The Americans have used it as a test since at least the sixties to determine who will go to the Army language school. It’s a surprisingly effective tool to see how well someone is able to learn a foreign language, particularly one with a different structure from the mother tongue.”

“Surely we have translators and analysts for that?”

Merlin nodded. “But how quickly can we get a knight a translation? Particularly on a field mission, the lapse in time could prove dangerous either to the mission or to the agent. If, once they’re at the table, they are required to learn a key language; we can expand some of our intelligence work, too.”

“An excellent idea, Merlin.” Arthur regarded the man in front of him. “I suppose it’s no secret that I wasn’t in favor of your candidacy for the table, nor for Merlin.”

“Although you did ultimately vote for me.”

“How do you know that?”

Merlin smiled. “My predecessor was on the conference call where the final vote was taken. Only Erec voted against me.”

Arthur gave a faint smile. “You would not have made a good knight, but you are indeed going to be an excellent Merlin.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I agree to the Esperanto test. It makes sense to have people with linguistic ability at the table. I’m less certain about the usefulness of the maths, but I’ll let it go forward. What’s this about games, though?”

Merlin said, “I had two thoughts on that. The first is that, based on past mission reports, most of the Kingsmen have problems with patience. The other is different games have different strategies for winning. By forcing them to play a variety of two person games, they’ll have to learn their competitors’ thinking styles. It will also force them to adapt.”

Arthur chuckled quietly. “You think we’re hidebound.”

“I think being able to adapt is a good thing for a Kingsman. There’s another component to it though. I plan to assign them game partners when there’s an odd number. I want to see how the group handles it. It can also be a way to assess how well some individuals handle being left out. I imagine every knight will have times when he votes against his fellows.”

“Not everyone does have the strength to handle being the outsider on a particular issue,” Arthur said. “I like it. Now, for the last item, a controlled parachute jump.”

“Specifically, I want them to do either a HALO or HAHO jump. With the former, we’d require a certain precision in the landing. With the latter, well, it’s an extension of orienteering in a way. Can they navigate the thirty or so miles between their drop point and the estate? In that case, a controlled landing anywhere on the green would be an acceptable outcome.”

“No.” Arthur held a hand up to stop Merlin from saying anything. “I’ll approve a standard jump where you can assess landing accuracy, with a preparation period, of course. Right now, the equipment we’d need to create or purchase is not at a level I would be comfortable with other than in an extreme emergency. Five years from now it may, perhaps, be at a level where we wouldn’t run the risk of killing our participants or revealing Kingsman’s existence.”

Merlin nodded. “Sound reasoning, sir. It’s better if a secret agency doesn’t do anything which would potentially compromise the secrecy. If I may say, sir, this wasn’t the last item on _my_ list.”

Arthur inclined his head for Merlin to continue.

“In reviewing past training, I discovered there was a flooded room scenario used right up to the late 1950s. The room still exists. We can improve the mechanisms and use it. Early in the training for preference.”

“We ended it when there was no longer national service. It could no longer be assumed everyone could swim.”

“If someone makes it to the table, he’s going to end up in situations where he doesn’t already have a particular skill. There will be ways to get air, if they’re clever. If not, the room can be drained as quickly as it floods. Medical will be on stand-by as well.”

“I want to see a demonstration before we run it on the candidates. You have two weeks to get the room running and perform the demonstration. My determination will be made then.” Arthur took a breath before he continued. “My cohort was the last one to use the flooded room. One of my fellow candidates died. It’s a risk in this kind of intensive training, of course. Since national service was being phased out, the table voted not to use it in future trainings.”

“I understand, sir. We’ll have it up and running in two weeks so we can run the demonstration you requested. When can we expect the candidates?”

“Three weeks from Saturday.”

***  
Merlin and a volunteer from logistics lay on the beds. They knew the water was coming, but, to keep it as close to the candidates’ experience as possible, they didn’t know when. Merlin drifted off and didn’t realize the flood had started until his arm got wet. He and his fellow volunteer stood on their beds waiting for the water to fill the room, making certain they would have the maximum air in their lungs. The other volunteer immediately made for the showers. Merlin swam to the door and attempted to open it, before heading for the showers and creating his own snorkel. 

The water receded within a minute. Medical said that it was likely they could revive anyone who panicked or was otherwise incapacitated.

Arthur said, “The exercise is approved.”

As he toweled himself off, Merlin said, “Sir, if they all make it to the showers and create snorkels, I’d like to keep the room flooded for at least ten minutes.”

“Approved.”

***  
The nine candidates for Tristan were an unprepossessing lot. The most interesting candidate, in Merlin’s opinion, was the one, Mark, who graduated from Imperial College rather than one of the Oxbridge colleges. The others were immediately patronizing toward him, which Merlin supposed was to be expected.

He was the one who figured out the snorkels, not that he shared the information. Most of the others were thrashing around looking for an exit, although only one of them tried the door. They finally noticed Mark sitting by one of the toilets, calmly breathing through a flexible tube he’d stripped from the showers. The rest created their own snorkels in short order, and the room drained on its own ten minutes after it flooded. 

Each recruit was issued a pillow, a sleeping bag, and dry pajamas before Merlin led them to the back lawn where tarps had been laid out. “I hope you enjoy your rest, gentlemen. PT will begin at six a.m.”

***  
The biggest difficulty the next day was the puppy test. As always (though it was the first time for him), the Merlin running the training provided a variety of sizes, temperaments, teachability, and breeds. Since he hadn’t run training before, he didn’t know whether this had ever happened, but the bulk of the candidates focused on two particular dogs -- a Scottish deerhound and an Alsatian -- to the exclusion of the other dogs available. At one point, he thought he’d have to break up a fist fight. 

Mark selected a Sheltie, one of the most trainable breeds, and Percival’s candidate, Maurice, picked a chow-chow, a breed notoriously territorial and difficult to train. Merlin mentally kept Mark at the top of the standings both for keeping out of the row and selecting the smartest dog available, and upped Maurice’s potential washout date to the following month.

“Gentlemen, and I’m using that term in its loosest possible sense, this should have been an orderly exercise with minimal discussion. A wide variety of breeds were presented at least three of which were gundogs, and I know most of you hunt. Only two people managed to make selections and fall in.” Merlin checked his clipboard and pointed to Arthur’s candidate, the one who’d first gotten to the deerhound. “The deerhound is yours. And Drew,” he pointed at Beaumains candidate, “you first touched the Alsatian, so he’s yours. The rest of you have five minutes to make selections. If you devolve into a prep school fight again, I have no qualms about washing all of you out. Are we clear?”

“Clear, sir,” came back from the group. Three minutes later each man stood with a puppy to his right.

“Supplies for your puppies are available in the quartermaster’s area. Your puppy will remain with you at all times. By the time you’ve completed training, providing you stay with the program, your puppy will also be trained. You have an hour to draw supplies and get to know your dogs. You’ll be running the obstacle course with light packs today.”

“Sir, do you mean the dogs will be with us on the course?”

“Yes, Jamie. And you’re not allowed to carry them in your arms. See you in,” he checked his watch, “fifty-eight minutes with your pups and your packs.”

***  
The following weeks were enlightening. Merlin reviewed his predecessor’s notes about his own cohort to see if the same issues and observations had occurred. He was pleased to see that the previous Merlin had pegged him for the top five from the very beginning and top two not much later in the process, but remembering the training and seeing the notes of an outside observer gave him a double perspective. 

The ostracism exercise with the two person games had proved to be a good addition to the training. Mark and his partner had asked if there were any three person games available rather than leave Drew outside the group. He’d immediately handed them a Scrabble board and gone to review the other pairs progress.

He’d also begun the candidates working with the internal departments already, much earlier in the process than other Merlins had.

With the permission of the table, Merlin began distributing notebooks during the unofficial “please seduce anyone you’d like to” period before the seduction classes began. There had been concerns about the data, but Merlin reassured them as to who would have access and how they would be destroyed when the candidates washed out. His point had been taken that the incident of honey trap assignments had gone up, and if a knight had particular proclivities which would make one of those assignments easier, then it should be known. 

Arthur distributed notebooks to the active knights and requested the data of them that Merlin was gathering on the candidates. He didn’t bother to hide his amusement at their discomfiture and neither did Merlin.

***  
Only one washed out on the Orienteering. Most of them had done as expected given their location and their time frame. 

Mark had apparently charmed a local farmer’s daughter into getting him to the station and buying his ticket to London. 

Maurice hadn’t figured out how to get back from Brighton with no money. Merlin had shaken his head at that one. They’d completed the pick-pocketing unit just before orienteering. He could have used that skill -- he’d been surprisingly adept -- if he hadn’t been able to do it any other way. There was little regret in washing him out, but Merlin was pleased to note that Cio-Cio San was very well trained, for a chow.

***  
They were drifting back from their work assignments when Merlin turned around and said, “May I have a word, Mark?”

Mark came over and Merlin gestured toward his office and once inside indicated a chair.

“I noticed you haven’t been taking advantage of the seduction permission.”

Mark said, “Is it required?”

“Not at all, but, I probably shouldn’t tell a candidate this, you’re my first cohort. I discovered on reading my predecessors’ notes that questions are usually asked when a young man doesn’t go out and…

“Hump the landscape?”

Merlin chuckled. “Exactly. I figure it’s one of three things. None of which should count against you.”

“But you’d like to know which it is?”

“Yes. You don’t have to satisfy my curiosity, though, other than the most important of the three which is,” Merlin sighed. There was no polite way to ask. “Look, lad, I just want to make certain you’re not carrying any venereal diseases.”

Mark choked and turned red. “Not that I’m aware of. I think it’s highly unlikely.”

Merlin nodded. “Then that’s fine.”

Mark said, “What were the other two?”

“You might be from a strict background and didn’t believe in sex before marriage which would also encompass being in an exclusive relationship with someone.”

“How?”

“Not wanting to break promises you’d made whether to another person or to whatever idea you might have of a supreme being.”

Mark nodded. “The other?”

“You might be a homosexual and nervous about how it would be perceived in this type of environment.”

“Well, certainly not that one.” He made a limp wristed gesture. “I can’t see myself mincing along to Earl’s Court -- or should I say ‘Girl’s Court’ -- on the weekend.”

Merlin went stone faced, though he doubted any of the lads would notice.

Mark continued, “It’s not really the other one, either. Certainly no promises have been made, but Caya seemed like she might be the one for me, and, right now, I’m just not interested in anyone else.”

“Fair enough. You can go. Supper’s at the usual time.”

Mark frowned. “I’ve said something wrong, but I don’t know what.”

“You’re doing very well in your body language and facial expressions classes, I see.”

Mark stopped dead and thought back through the conversation. His eyes went wide. “I really dropped a brick with that Earls Court remark, didn’t I?”

“You dropped a whole bloody house.”

Mark shut his eyes like he was facing a firing squad. “Please allow me to apologize for my thoughtlessness.”

Merlin stared at him. “Of course. It’s accepted. And you’ve let me know that we’ll need to cover attitudes toward other sexual orientations as part of the training, so thank you for that.” He nodded toward the door.

“Yes, Merlin.”


	2. BEAUMAINS February 1988 - July 1989

The doctor came out of the room and asked Merlin and Arthur to step in. They’d been called earlier and waited until Beaumains was ready for them.

When they entered, Merlin saw a man who was shaken beyond belief. Beaumains nodded to the doctor, seemingly unable to speak.

“Three months ago,” the doctor began, “Merlin asked us to check every agent every month with a full STD panel and insisted that it include HIV.”

Merlin’s eyes went directly to Beaumains. 

The doctor said, “Honestly, Merlin, I thought it was foolish -- overly alarmist -- until today.”

Arthur said, “Really? Beaumains?”

“Yes. The good news is that there’s a new drug the Americans are using which may slow down the symptoms and prevent secondary infections. We caught it early based on his last lab panels, so it should help. The slightly less good news is that we don’t know much about this AZT in the long term.”

Beaumains himself spoke for the first time. “The bad news is that I won’t be able to go out into the field any more. The risks of infecting someone else are too high, and the drugs won’t help me to stay as I am… was.”

“We’ve been wanting agents to contribute ideas to Research and Development. I’m sure Nimue will cheer to have you there, especially if you’re willing to do the testing,” Merlin said.

Beaumains said, “I don’t know whether to thank you for letting me catch it early or damn you for taking away a life I love.”

Merlin said, “My shoulders are broad. I can accept both. I am sorry this happened to you.”

“I’ve never… I’m not gay. I don’t do IV drugs. I haven’t slept with anyone I don’t know…”

Merlin stilled. “Doctor, am I right that Beaumains had a blood transfusion a few months ago -- just before I started as Merlin?”

“Yes, he’d lost a great deal of blood after that…” He trailed off and said, “I need to have all the blood we’ve stored checked. And test all the agents who’ve had transfusions in the last ten months.”

Arthur said, “Now, doctor, please. We need to know how much danger the table is in.” 

“The table,” Beaumains said with some bitterness.

Merlin said, “Yes, Arthur will think first of the table, just as I will think first of logistics. First of all, you’ll need to inform your sexual partners. Secondly, you’ll remain at the table for at least another month or so while the rest of the data on your last assignment is processed. You’re due for downtime anyway. In the meantime, anything I can do, please let me know.”

Arthur added, “All your medical treatment will, of course, be covered by Kingsman. You have served us well, and we don’t forget that. Call me when you’re done here, Merlin. And Beaumains, I am very sorry.” He nodded to both of them and left the room.

Beaumains said, “Do you think he’s using the royal ‘we’?”

Merlin laughed a little hollowly. “Possibly, though I think he just meant the table or possibly Kingsman.”

“One would hope,” Beaumains said. “I’ve never met anyone who had AIDS.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“You have, though.”

“Yes, several people I grew up with were infected very early on in the crisis, or their children were. I’ve been to a great many funerals in Glasgow.”

Beaumains stared at him. “I thought you were gay.”

He decided not to quibble about terms and said, “Aye. And I’ve known two people who contracted AIDS from that community, but most of the funerals I’ve been to were for people who lost hope and found happiness in a needle.”

“I didn’t mean to judge…”

Merlin said, “Yes, you did. You’re lashing out, and I understand that even if I don’t like it.”

“I am sorry, though. I’m still thinking ‘Why me?’”

Merlin rested a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t have wished this on anyone.”

Beaumains glanced at his hand. “You touched me. Even the doctor...”

“I’ve had enough friends die that I know touching you won’t pass it to me. Not everyone does, but if anyone at Kingsman behaves badly, let me know. I promise they’ll be educated, thoroughly and quickly.”

“Thank you for that, Merlin.” When Merlin reached the door, he said, “The dog test, would you really have shot me rather than the dog?”

Merlin said, “Without hesitation.”

***  
Merlin telephoned Arthur as soon as he was back at his desk.

“We’ll take the top two candidates from this cohort, Merlin.”

There was a long pause. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir.”

“Why not?”

“The likely top two… Sir, Arthur, for the next cohort I’d like to add some psychological tests that we don’t do now.”

This time the pause was on Arthur’s side. “Tell your team that you won’t be in before eleven tomorrow. Meet me in the dining room at 8:30. We’ll breakfast together. Gather your thoughts and give me a cogent reason why taking the top two is a bad idea.”

“I’ll send some files to be stored at the shop overnight, then. I prefer not to take personnel information home.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning.”

***  
Merlin came in wearing a charcoal three piece suit. His tie was Kingsman formal, but he’d worn a pale blue shirt with white collar and cuffs. 

Arthur raised an eyebrow and said, “Advice from Galahad?”

“Advice from Allen, our youngest tailor, sir.”

“It’s well done. You look like a gentleman.” He motioned to the sideboard. “Please.”

Merlin took deviled kidneys, mushrooms, and cooked tomato. He prepared himself tea and brought a rack of brown bread toast to the table with butter and marmalade which he set between them.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Arthur finally said, “You seem to have some concern about our current cohort.”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“My candidate has already washed out, so I no longer have a horse in the race. Please be frank.”

“Could you ask your secretary to bring the files I left with him last night?”

“Of course.”

They finished their meal while they waited for the files, discussing several articles in the morning’s papers.

Once the files were in front of him, Merlin said, “Sir, we haven’t yet reached the final three -- the loyalty test. However, based on the standings so far, I believe these will be the final three.”

“Yes?”

“If Mark wins through as Tristan, he has some areas to work on. He is less socially assured than the other two, and his weapons scores are the lowest of the three. However, he’s observant, charming, and cool in a crisis.”

He thought for a moment and pushed another file at Arthur. “William is hot-headed. He may wash out earlier than I think purely because his temper will lead him to strike a fellow candidate. They all know that it’s an automatic dismissal from the program, but his temper and temperament may overcome his urge to succeed.”

“And the last one?” Arthur said, picking it up.

“Harvey winning through to the end is my greatest fear. His dog is well trained, was the first one trained, but the cameras we have and some of my personal hidden observations show that he did it through cruelty. I’m not talking about hitting it with a rolled up newspaper, by the way. There’s footage of him throwing the pup against the wall during the first week. Limits were placed on how the dogs could be trained immediately after I saw the footage, but it was too late to change his standings for the week. Unlike William, he can control his temper, but he’s vicious toward Mark and certain of the other candidates. One good candidate had to be washed out because I thought he might commit suicide due to Harvey’s bullying. I’m also concerned about some of the entries in his sexual history notebook. If he wins through, there’s no training I can think of which will amend his personality issues.”

Arthur said, “You think he’s likely to be in the top two?”

“Yes, physically he’s extremely able. He’s intelligent and capable. Although he does tend to dither at the beginning of a crisis, he can pull himself together to handle it well enough.”

“If he isn’t selected could he be a threat to Kingsman?”

Merlin thought for a moment and finally said, “I don’t know, Arthur. It’s possible. He could try to pull some sort of do-or-die stunt.”

“Soon after I joined the table, there was a need for a new Ywain. One of the proposals washed out fairly late in the process and proved to be a rather serious problem. Poor lad died in a car accident on his way to meet with a reporter.” Arthur watched Merlin’s face closely. He continued, “You’re Merlin. You can go back to headquarters and wash him out right now for cleaning his gun wrong or picking his nose. I’ll back you. You’re my fifth Merlin, and I’ve learned they tend to have excellent instincts about the candidates in their charge. We don’t want anyone vicious at the table. We don’t want to have to take out a fellow knight because he’s gone rogue or committed an unforgivable act.”

Merlin nodded. “And do you concur that we don’t take the top two from this group? We run a separate cohort for Beaumains?”

“Yes. It will still have to pass a vote by the table, of course, but my support will be for a separate group.”

“What about the psychological testing? I think it should be fairly early in the process if we do it.”

Arthur said, “Consider instead working with the psychologists we have in our pay to set psychological values for the reactions to the tests we already run -- possibly add them as raters when you have a specific concern. You’ve already let a candidate go for psychological reasons. We don’t want people who break under pressure, obviously. I worry that using a pen and paper test might eliminate some good candidates who have the qualities we need. If they say it can’t be done that way, we’ll revisit it.”

“Fair enough, sir. If that’s all?”

“It is, Merlin.” 

Merlin collected his files and stood up.

“Actually, one last thing, Harvey’s dog, do you think he can be rehabilitated?”

“Sphinx is young and healthy. I think there’s a good chance.”

“Make certain Harvey doesn’t take the dog with him. We’ll retrain it and find him a good home.”

“Thank you, Arthur.”

By the time the candidates got back from their morning activities, Harvey’s bed had been stripped and his bag packed. The young man looked at his bed and belongings and shouted for Merlin.

“Yes, Harvey?”

“What’s this?”

“You’re leaving, and Sphinx is staying.”

“You can’t do that.”

“I have.”

“On what grounds?”

Merlin smiled. “I reviewed the footage from this morning’s run. You went around one of the obstacles when you fell behind rather than through it.”

Harvey went puce. “Arthur will hear about this.”

“Considering your volume, he probably already has.”

The young man took a swing at him and Merlin caught him in a wrist lock with his face in the mattress. “When I release you, you’re going to pick up your bag and walk out the front door. The taxi will take you anywhere in Greater London. Understood?”

“Yes,” came the muffled reply.

Merlin eased off and Harvey tried a leg sweep. Merlin put him down quickly and cuffed him. “Don’t make me use full shackles. I won’t hesitate if you try something again.” He nodded to one of the other proposals. “Stewart, could you put Sphinx on the lead and grab this one’s bag?”

The young man complied, and Merlin took the lead from him. They walked to the taxi out front, Merlin only removing the handcuffs when Harvey was inside.

“Take him to any address he requires. Leave him and his bag and return to the shop, please.”

“Got it, guv.”

“You can go now, Stewart.”

Merlin stood with the Doberman beside him. “Now then, Sphinx, let’s get you properly trained.”

***  
Mark had won through and was the new Tristan. He’d apparently celebrated by asking Caya up from Cornwall for dinner. Merlin had hope for him as both a man and an agent.

Merlin looked at the current cohort and gave them the “most dangerous job interview in the world” speech letting them know they’d be competing for the title of Beaumains. When he got back to his desk, the current Beaumains was waiting for him.

“Anything I can do to help with the training?”

Merlin smiled. “Not right now, but I’ll take you up on it later. Want to watch the room flood?”

Beaumains nodded. “Thank you, Merlin.”

***  
Arthur came by about three weeks in and spoke to Merlin while the cohort was on their morning run. “I understand someone’s washed out because of the board games? Did he cheat at checkers?”

“No, sir. It was the other side to the exercise, actually. He was the odd one out. Unlike the previous cohort, I didn’t manipulate the result in any way.”

“And…?”

“And Robert couldn’t handle not being part of the group. He made himself obnoxious by trying to give advice over the others’ shoulders. It sounds petty, but when I had one of the psychologists observe the footage, she said that he’d fall apart in some of the more difficult tasks much less as an agent. We couldn’t take the risk.”

“No, we couldn’t. I just wanted to make certain he wasn’t another one who was vicious, especially since Erec proposed him just as he had… Harvey was it?”

“Yes, and I hadn’t thought of that link, sir. It could indicate an issue with a serving agent.”

Arthur gave a half shrug. “Possibly. More likely he owed their fathers a favor, but it would be worth examining. How did Tristan do on his first mission?”

“Very well, sir. Managed to catch the man responsible in such a way that the worldwide economy isn’t going to collapse.”

“A definite bonus, then. Thank you for your time, Merlin.”

“Always good to see you, sir.”

***  
Due to one candidate wrecking a car on the driving obstacle course and hurting himself badly and another being so bad at orienteering that he’d thought London was _north_ of Yorkshire, they were already down to the final six when Merlin announced the seduction unit.

Most of the cohort was managing to be discreet about their pursuits, though he’d heard enough talk to realize they were treating it as a competition. He wondered if that assumption would ever end, or if it was just the result of young men being stuck in close quarters.

Paul, however, was kissing Merlin’s secretary at her desk. 

“Vivienne, since I assume the report’s done, you can have the rest of the day off.”

“Are you sure, Merlin?”

“Rather than listen to the two of you flirt, absolutely.” He glanced at Paul. “By the way, as of next Monday she’s no longer in my department. You’ll be able to find her in research and development.”

Vivienne dimpled prettily. “Nimue wants me to stay at this desk if it’s possible. Says it’s the best way to know what the database will really need.”

“Does he now? I want you training with the more senior programmers so that we develop a house style. In six months, you can start programming from here.”

“Yes, Merlin.” 

Paul looked between them and Vivienne said, “I just need to get my coat.”

“Think of me as her father in this. Don’t hurt her.”

“You’re not that much older than…”

“I’m a year younger than you are. But I’m still telling you to watch yourself with her because I take an interest in her well-being.”

“Yes, Merlin.”

She came back with her coat and said, “Don’t leave the light on, Papa. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

Merlin chuckled. “Just as long as you’re on time for work in the morning.”

***  
The current Beaumains would occasionally come to review the work of the candidates, though he steered clear during the seduction lectures. “Frankly, Merlin, they embarrassed me when I was a candidate. I’m not going through them again.”

As they came closer to the final two, Beaumains came more often. “This is fascinating, you know. I’ll admit I’m jealous. They’re going to have something I loved and lost. Only 15 years at the table for me. Most of us last at least twenty.”

“Which is remarkable considering the types of jobs you get sent to do. Why is it so fascinating? You went through it yourself. I went through it.”

“The dynamics are -- not different, clearer maybe? -- when you’re no longer a direct part of the dynamic. But, for all that he died rather spectacularly, Tristan was a planner and the new Tristan seems to be one as well. This group seem to be analysts. Didn’t you tell me they had fewer seductions than any group, but higher satisfaction scores?”

“Yes. I hadn’t thought about that as being analytical, but you’re right. It is. They also have generally high scores from their work assignments which is more than I can say for the last group.”

Merlin looked at the screen and the green symbols falling down them. He touched the carat mark on the screen and said, “Justin’s been picked up on radar.”

“These two aren’t likely to land in the K,” Beaumains pointed to an asterisk and an ampersand.

“We may be down to our final three. Are you going to want to watch the train tracks?”

“I am.” He took a deep breath. “My office is cleared out at the tailor’s shop. My room upstairs will be done by the time you have my replacement."

"There's no need. You're still working for Kingsman."

"I know, but it feels like I'm tidying up loose ends."

Merlin nodded. "Well, they're all on the ground. I'd better go make sure none of them broke a leg."

***  
Jonathan hadn’t been able to shoot his dog. Merlin couldn’t blame him; she was a sweet Sealyham terrier. In temperament, she reminded him of Selkie.

Paul had taken the gun from Merlin, weighed it, and shook his head. Then he told his Black Russian Terrier, Ivan Denisovich, to lie down. The dog did and put his paws over his eyes. Paul stepped back several feet, aimed for the thigh, then shot.

Ivan uncovered his eyes and looked up at his master. Paul knelt beside him and said, “That’s cruel.”

“It is,” Merlin said. “Why did you weigh the gun in your hand?”

“I was trying to tell if they were blanks. I couldn’t see you telling us to kill a dog. You’re so gentle with them. But I couldn’t tell.”

“So you aimed for the area which would cause the least injury and made sure you were relatively far away. Sound reasoning.”

“Why couldn’t I tell?”

“The weight’s not that different. Sound is a giveaway, but you can’t know until you’ve shot the round.”

Paul nodded as a phone rang in the corner. 

Merlin answered it and said, “Yes, Arthur.” He saw Paul rubbing Ivan’s chest with tears on his face. “Come, lad, bring Ivan.”

They walked into a small wood paneled room.

Arthur stood and said, “Congratulations, Beaumains. Welcome to Kingsman.”

***  
Merlin left them talking about when Paul could have his first suit fitted and which Kingsman living space would be his.

He found the former Beaumains and said, “It was Paul.”

“I thought it might be.”

“I understand you gave in your resignation, Geoffrey.”

“I did. I’m holding Arthur to the promise of paying for all my treatments. He’s letting me keep my residence, too.”

“Good. If you get bored, you can come back. Research and development have loved having a knight around the place.”

“I can’t. I’d let the anger eat me away. I’m going to explore the world -- without shooting people this time.”

Merlin chuckled. “You have my number Geoffrey. Home as well as here, right?”

“Yes, Merlin. I do. And I’ve decided. As much as I hate giving up a career I love, _thank you_ for letting it be caught early. There’s an excellent chance I might not show symptoms for years because of that.” He held out his hand and Merlin took it. “It’s after five. Join me in town for a drink?”

Merlin was about to say no; he had a great deal of work to finish. But then he really looked at the man and said, “Of course, but I get to pick where. None of your places have decent whisky.”

Geoffrey smiled and picked up his bag, and they got on the shuttle to town together.


	3. EREC September 1993 - March 1994

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wonderful art work by Chibifukurou is in this chapter.

Six years after training Beaumains and Tristan, there was a new cohort in front of him. Erec had come to the table in 1960, one of the oldest ever to compete for a spot at the table. At sixty-five, after thirty-four years of service, he’d decided to retire. 

The best news from Merlin’s point of view was that Arthur had approved a HAHO jump for this cohort. The technology had improved to the point where Kingsman could improve upon it without calling attention to itself. 

This group certainly seemed better than the Tristan group. They'd cooperated on the flooded room, getting the one man who'd never learned to swim, safely to the showers and a breathing tube. The problem was this group had very little physical stamina. They looked like a bunch of accountants.

He began by holding PT every single morning. The two previous cohorts had their issues, but they were all physically fit. This group needed building up. Worse, each of them seemed to have wildly different strengths and weaknesses. Alex and Jeremy were going to have to learn how to swim. Jack had never thrown a punch in his life, and Eric had never held a weapon more deadly than a cricket bat.

They were going to need far more basic training than he could provide on his own. Six of the knights and Arthur, had served in one branch of the military or another. Arthur said he'd help with marksmanship with handguns and fill in if one of the other knights was needed elsewhere.

Tristan offered to help with long gun marksmanship. He'd been less familiar with weapons than the rest of his cohort, so he thought he could be sympathetic in the early stages.

Harry was going to teach knife work, throwing as well as using one in hand to hand combat, and he'd promised to help Merlin with the early stages of hand to hand as well.

"I could also help with the seduction classes, if you like. Spare your blushes." Harry'd batted his eyes and Merlin had laughed for the first time in weeks.

He shook his head as he watched them pass. They were doing simple laps without packs and had barely gone a mile, but they looked like they were about to pass out. It was going to be a long training.

***  
Harry walked into the gym and saw the group standing around staring at the equipment like they'd never seen a weight before. He looked them over and thought maybe they hadn't.

"Are you warmed up?" he asked the room at large.

"Who're you?" one of them replied.

"I'm Galahad. And you are?"

"Willoughby, sir. Where's Merlin?"

"He'll be along later. I thought we could start with a few basics if you're warmed up."

One of them shrugged. "We did PT this morning. That slave driver had us do thirty push ups." At Harry's raised eyebrow, he added, "Mike, sir."

"Thirty push ups, you say? How many did he do?"

"I'm Alex,” said another, “and I'd say Merlin did at least twice as many as we did. Perhaps more as he was moving much faster than we could."

"You're observant, I'll give you that. All right, everyone drop and give me ten push ups and then immediately give me twenty sit ups. I want to judge your form and your strength."

The next five minutes were excruciating for Harry. He'd never seen such ghastly exercises in his life. "Don't the public schools emphasize games anymore?" he wondered aloud.

"No, and thank heavens for that," Merlin said as he entered. "The last group I trained had to be untrained first. They were going to do themselves damage if I hadn't. This lot doesn't have bad habits at least."

Harry's look clearly communicated that he thought Merlin was overestimating them.

A hand went up. "Yes, Robin," Merlin said.

"Are we really going to need to be able to fight? I mean, we'll have guns and knives."

He locked eyes with Harry and said, "I know you're armed."

Harry pulled the knife out of his ankle sheath a little sheepishly. "Are you saying you aren't?"

Merlin pulled out his own knife. 

Harry said, "I bet you have at least one throwing knife, too."

"Of course I do, Galahad. Shall we?" He inclined his head toward the ring and Galahad smirked.

They stepped into the ring. 

Merlin began by saying, "The twenty-one foot rule is important. If you have a gun and your knife holding opponent is twenty one feet away, you win. If your opponent is less than twenty one feet away, he or she wins."

"You're going to make me attack you, you bastard." Harry sighed and went to the farthest diagonal he could from Merlin.

"Imagine I have a gun," Merlin held his hands out in front like he was bracing a hand gun. "Bang."

Harry ducked to his left and slid forward. With a smooth motion, he braced Merlin's right arm, effectively disarming him, and turned so that he had his knife at Merlin's throat. "I was within twenty one feet and Merlin likes me well enough not to fight back."

"If you don't get your mission report in today, I can promise it will be different tomorrow."

"Are you going to show us how to do that?" Jack asked.

"Not today," Harry said. "You need to start with the basics, which means you're all going to learn how to take a fall."

***  
Six weeks later Harry found Merlin in his office rubbing his eyes. He looked like he wanted to be banging his head against the wall. He said, quietly, “Merlin?”

“Oh, Galahad, I didn’t know you were back. How was Dubrovnik?”

“Nothing blew up, and I didn’t shoot anyone, though someone did take a shot at me.”

“I hope it missed.”

“It did. I don’t know where they’re hiring their bully-boys these days. Their weapons’ handling was shockingly shoddy.”

When Merlin just nodded instead of coming back with a quip of his own, Harry said, “Chinese at yours tonight? It’s my shout.”

Merlin said, “I’d love to, but I’m staying in my rooms here until training’s over.”

“The village chippy does a lovely plaice.”

Merlin sighed, “God, yes. Stodgy chips with lots of vinegar sounds a treat.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Harry, I don’t care what poor shots the hired muscle you were up against were, they were undoubtedly better than this cohort. It’s been three months, and without Arthur’s help I don’t think they’d be this good. I still can’t let them do their own physical training and expect them to keep to a standard. I added an extra week of basic handgun training, and I still had one washout based on scores and, of the eight left, three were only one point over the minimum acceptable mark. They’re a bit better with long guns. Thank God for grouse.”

“So concentrate on the other four.”

“They were within five points of the minimum: all of them. I’ve checked to make certain I didn’t mis-score them. The last time Kingsman had a cohort which started this badly was 1969 when they were all stoned -- and that’s not a judgment, I got it out of the medical files. At least half that cohort were higher than kites their first day of training.”

Harry thought for a moment. “Was that the cohort that took twenty months?”

“No. That one only took seventeen. The twenty month group lasted that long because they were so good, it took forever for people to wash out. It was Arthur’s cohort, by the by.”

“I can believe it. I’ve read some of his old mission reports as background when we were still in the Cold War. Now it’s ended, and the Balkans go back to being a byword for nasty intramural ethnic cleansing”

“Who’d have thought we’d miss Tito?” 

They both laughed at Merlin’s sally.

Merlin said, “I need to finish the current mission briefing within the hour. Come to my room at six? And I still prefer salmon.”

“Six it is. Cider?”

“I’d love you forever.”

***  
They were each on their second cider sitting with their backs to the headboard on Merlin’s bed fully clothed.

“I’m so tempted to send them all home to their mothers and tell the knights to send me decent recruits.”

“You could, but you’d have to give parameters.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow at him. “Really, Harry, do you think any of them, besides you, would listen to me? They’re used to picking based on who the candidate’s father is more than anything else. And by the way, yours is still in the running, but I have a feeling orienteering is going to do for him.”

“I’d have thought seduction. He has the personality of a wet flannel.” 

“He’s still better than most of the rest. Though I admit, he lacks charm.”

“Do you remember Colonel Blythe?”

“I still have the scar on my hip from the Falklands. Of course, I remember him.”

“Jeremy was an officer candidate who washed out. Blythe thought he had the makings of a good analyst. You’re always saying we need people who can analyze on the fly.”

“His intellectual scores are top of the cohort, I’ll give you that, but I’ll lay close odds that he washed out on weapons.”

“No. He broke his wrist on the obstacle course and decided not to return.”

Merlin said, “I’m worried that the HAHO jump will kill them. None of them moves well. While you were in Croatia, I had to send two of them to the care unit. One managed to stab his sparring partner -- well, more of a slice, really, which is impressive with a blunted weapon -- and the other stumbled doing a basic combination and managed to crack his own rib. We’re all mystified as to how he managed it.”

Harry took the cider bottle from Merlin’s hand and placed it on the nightstand with his own. He leaned close and said, “I could take your mind off your troubles for awhile.”

Merlin said, “What about Davina?”

“Old news. She’s a lovely girl, but not someone I can see ever being more than a convenient lady on my arm for social events.”

“I’m sure you were more than social friends.”

Harry smirked. “I’m just more sociable than you are. Besides, you’re the only _man_ in my life.”

Merlin thought for a moment. He cared deeply for Harry, and they’d been friendly lovers for either six years or eight depending on whether the seduction unit from his own cohort counted as the beginning of their relationship. Lately, Merlin thought he might want more. But…

He smiled at Harry. “Are you just going to gawp or is there some serious kissing in my immediate future?”

Harry cupped his chin and pulled Merlin into a deep kiss. He lay back and wriggled into Merlin’s embrace. 

***  
He’d lost three people to orienteering, one during training when he just couldn’t learn to light a campfire, and two during the exam. It really shouldn’t have been that difficult to get back from Ely Cathedral or one of the more rural points on Hadrian’s wall. Merlin had even added six hours to all his time estimates for getting back to headquarters.

He was fairly certain that the HAHO jump would bring them to their final three. 

Galahad’s candidate had improved physically and with weaponry. There was nothing to be done for Jeremy’s personality. If he washed out for a reason other than disloyalty, there was probably room for him with Morgan’s analysts. 

Arthur had picked Willoughby, another second son of a Duke. He was better than most on the physical side, but barely keeping his head above water on the intellectual tests. 

The final candidate was Ywain’s, named, of all things, Eric. He was second to Jeremy on the intellectual side, second to Willoughby on the physical side, and barely keeping his minimum marksmanship goals. Unlike the other two, he had a certain amount of charm and did well in the social conversation unit. Merlin just wished the man didn’t make his teeth itch. He was as slippery as an eel -- which was probably useful in a spy -- but even when Eric was being completely above board, there was always a sense that he saw every interaction purely as a move in a game.

Any of the three would make an adequate agent. Merlin’s problem was he thought Kingman agents should be extraordinary.

***  
All three managed the HAHO, the train tracks, and shooting the dog. Merlin sat down with all three men’s sponsors and discussed their merits to see if a consensus could be reached on eliminating one of them. 

It didn’t work, but Harry suggested that there be a dinner party test. Each man would be invited to a dinner party for ten people at the home of another candidate’s sponsor. He would be told there was information to gather on a particular topic and report back to Merlin and Morgan at the end of the night. The one with the least information would be dropped out, and they’d concentrate on honing the skills of the other two.

Jeremy stayed within a few feet of Ywain all evening at his dinner party. He’d broach a new subject with Ywain, always on the theme he’d been handed, anytime the other man wasn’t actively in conversation with someone else. He brought back just under half the information which had been seeded among the guests.

Willoughby broke into Galahad’s safe. It wasn’t his real safe, but a fake one with some expensive jewelry and a few thousand pounds in it, so if a thief broke in there was something to find. Like Willoughby, once the obvious safe was found, most average people would stop looking. He managed to bring back even less information than Jeremy and had to be threatened into returning Galahad’s mother’s engagement parure.

Eric got the most information. He flirted with several women, always distantly enough that their significant others wouldn’t feel threatened, and managed to find out the major bits and pieces. His analysis of the result was a little skewed, but that could be taught.

After another discussion among the sponsors, it was decided that Eric would be their next Erec. Jeremy would be offered an analyst’s position. Willoughby would be offered a minor post in Hong Kong working to make certain that nothing went wrong with the handover to China in two years time. His ability to crack safes might actually be useful there.

Ywain smiled at his candidate, and Arthur welcomed him to Kingsman.

Harry took Merlin to Bibendum for a commiseration dinner and then took him home for the weekend.


	4. LANCELOT -- October 1996 - December 1997

Another agent lost and toasted by the table. Merlin’s own toast was with an absinthe Lancelot had brought him back from Eastern Europe before the wall came tumbling down. Even sweetened and watered, he thought he could feel it dissolving the enamel on his teeth. 

Jonathan had been a little cruder than the other knights, but it was the type of crudeness which came from having a family who'd lived on the same land, serving the same kings, for over six hundred years. He’d been larger than life; the only one of the knights to make his bespoke suits look untidy. He’d quickly discovered that Lancelot’s biggest asset was his ability to drink anyone -- even a KGB agent -- under the closest table.

Arthur had already put out the call for a training cohort just after the toast. Merlin emailed the office and informed the witches that he’d be taking the following two days off. It would be his last time to himself until there was a new Lancelot. He then prepared another round of absinthe and went to bed.

***  
Harry knocked on his apartment door around noon.

Merlin said, “I’ve taken two days off.”

“And, by the look of it, you’ve drunk your way through at least a quarter of it.”

“If I chose to drink my way through all of it, it wouldn’t be any of your business. Just having my own toast to Lancelot.”

Harry looked at him and finally said, “May I come in?”

Merlin sighed. “Why are you here, Harry?”

“Arthur didn’t send me, if that’s what you’re worried about?”

“Why would I? Arthur’s never had any problem reprimanding me if he felt I deserved it – or praising me for that matter. There’s nothing any handler could have done for Lancelot. It’s not nice. It certainly isn’t easy, but it _is_ true. The mission went bad.”

“Yes, I… Merlin. I would like to talk to you.”

Merlin counted to twenty in German. “Thirty minutes and I’ll tell Arthur that I’m taking an extra half day.”

Harry gave a double take.

“I’m going to spend months at headquarters with no respite. When there’s a cohort in training, Merlin’s never off duty. I wanted two days without thinking of work before I faced it.”

“Am I work?”

“No. You’re a pompous ass who’s so sure of his welcome that he doesn’t consider others. You could have called to ask whether I was up to seeing people.”

“You might have said no.”

Merlin sat down in a rocking chair and shook his head. “Thus, proving my point.” He glanced at his watch. “Twenty-eight minutes.”

“I wanted your opinion of a potential candidate.”

Merlin thought for a moment. “There’s no rule against it. Why aren’t you trusting your own instincts?”

“I do,” Harry said, “but… everyone at the table seems to have the same opinions, the same ideas.”

“Well you do all share a tailor.”

“Merlin.”

“Sorry, Harry. Continue.”

“Colonel Blythe and I have kept in touch, just in case I might need a candidate. There’s a young Marine, just about to get out of the first round of training. He’s married, young child. Son, I think. Blythe says he’s a shoo-in for officer’s training. He has the intelligence and strong moral code required. I’d like to propose him.”

Merlin said, “Go ahead. I can’t believe Blythe’s still in the service. I thought he was old when we were serving.”

“More that he’s one of those people who look like they’re forty from ages twenty to sixty. I think he’ll be required to retire in 2000.”

Merlin nodded. “I don’t understand why you’re bringing it to me.”

“He’s definitely ‘not one of us.’ He lives in council housing. That’s part of his motivation for going into the service, getting out of a bad neighborhood, making things better for his family.”

“Education?”

“He’s done some work through the Open University.”

“I hate to ask, but accent? I know mine counted against me.”

Harry said, “The one time I heard him speak, it appalled me. But we can fix that with some practice. The Erec cohort…”

Merlin rested his head against the back of the chair. “I will tie _myself_ to the railroad tracks if we have another cohort like them. I don’t know what the table thinks of Erec, but in the four years he’s been a Kingsman, he’s managed to alienate a good portion of the support staff. We actually have had two drivers refuse assignments with him because he’s so bloody condescending.”

“I don’t know this man well. I’ve only met him once really, but …”

“At the very least, he’ll shake a few trees and keep the other candidates sharp, physically, if nothing else.”

Harry nodded. “Thank you, Merlin. I had to discuss it with someone who knew Kingsman and knows the tests.”

Merlin stood. “No problem, Harry. I might not even take the extra half day.”

Harry rose, too, and said, “Take advice from an old friend…” He was surprised when Merlin whipped his head around sharply at that. “Please, Merlin, I do try to be your friend.”

“I know, Harry. What advice were you about to impart?”

“Call Roy and shag yourself out. You’re wound too tightly.”

Merlin went still. “I haven’t seen Roy in two years. And my relationship, for a given value of the term, with Clive ended three months back. Frankly, I haven’t missed him.”

“Clive was a bit of a cipher. It may have been awhile, but Roy…”

“Is happily married to a woman. I was an experiment, a walk on the other side of the street while he decided whether he could stand up to his family and to the kinds of remarks that a pair of gay men can get on the street. He decided he couldn’t.”

“And he never…”

Merlin said, “He called about a year into his marriage and essentially offered me a chance to be his bit on the side.”

Harry winced. “I _am_ sorry, Merlin.”

Merlin just nodded. “And Ariane? How’s she?”

“Back at Cambridge. She’ll probably take a starred first.”

“I never understand why you like them so young.”

Harry smiled. “Young women appreciate a mysterious older man who will take them to expensive restaurants and shows, but will disappear at exam time.”

“Half of them want to marry you.”

“All of them are just interested in my money. And that’s a fine exchange.”

Merlin suddenly looked tired. “Just tell me that wasn’t your opinion of me.”

“Merlin. Of course not. You are, were...” Harry touched his face. “There was always more between us, a great deal more. You ended it, not I.”

“No, Harry. You weren’t willing to make even a basic commitment, and I’m old enough, old-fashioned enough, maybe, that I wanted more.”

“I can imagine the comments at Kingsman if we moved in together.”

“When did I say a blessed word about sharing living quarters? We’d drive each other mad in a month if we tried it.”

Harry seemed puzzled.

“Look, Harry, your half hour’s up. Head home or back to the shop, but let me nurse my hangover in peace. I’ll be back at the office on Thursday for tests before the candidates arrive on Saturday. Go talk to your marine and make him the offer.” He herded Harry toward the door.

“I may have misunderstood when you…”

“Not. Now. Harry. We’ll have tea on Sunday or something, at headquarters, of course, but you know the cooks do a lovely one.”

“Yes, of course. I was being thoughtless. I will see you later in the week, and Sunday tea sounds lovely.”

Merlin rested his back against the door once Harry departed. He knew Harry would want him back, at least until his feet got cold again.

He got a glass of water and began to make himself a sandwich. 

He knew he’d take Harry back to his bed in a heartbeat, no matter the terms, and he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at the realization.

***  
The group before him looked more promising than the last one. Sadly, that wasn’t saying much. 

Merlin gave the speech and noted the reactions to the body bag section. Most of them looked vaguely queasy, but Galahad’s candidate, Lee, looked murderous. When he checked Lee’s bag later, the next of kin read “Galahad, Merlin.”

This cohort might prove interesting after all.

***  
Accents and backgrounds came into play. He’d isolated Lee at the beginning during the two person games and found out that the man would play chess against himself and knew more patience lays than Merlin had known existed.

When two people washed out in the same week, one on vehicles and one on physical fitness (and really, what did Ywain think he was doing? His candidates in all four cohorts had been physically unprepared, and it was only because the whole group had been so physically awful that his last candidate had made it to Erec.), Merlin switched the odd man out from Lee to James. The first day, James fretted a bit, went to find a book in the library, and generally made his unhappiness felt. The second day, Lee and his partner asked if there were any three person games available. Merlin silently handed them Chinese checkers.

Merlin watched them all, of course, but he focused on those three. He was positive they’d all make it to the final six and he was pretty certain Lee and James would make it past the HAHO jump, partially because they both had military training, but also because they were two of the few who seemed to be having fun with the whole process. They were also beginning to help each other and Adrian, the third in their games, seemed to be included in many of their study and practice sessions. 

James was like a centaur on horseback, so he was helping the other two with all things equine. Adrian was amazing at camouflage -- James seemed to take refuge in audacity, and Lee was average -- while Lee showed the other two how to integrate different fighting styles, he was surprisingly well versed in the French styles, into something as beautiful as any ballet.

The three of them provided a counterweight to the two aristocrats and the ones who wanted to be their hangers on. He thought Geoffrey and Richard, the second sons of an Earl and a Duke, respectively, would also make it to the top six, barring accidents, but he was less certain about the HAHO jump.

It didn’t matter, though; his main focus was on getting them all through orienteering and seduction. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

***  
“Merlin?”

“Yes, Lee?”

“This seduction… contest.”

Merlin shook his head. “Why do young men always think it’s a contest? It’s merely permission to indulge should you choose to. And if you don’t realize that your partners report to me afterward, then you probably don’t belong in the program.”

Lee was still for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that. I wonder if the others have.” He thought a moment more. “If I don’t participate…?”

“Frankly, lad, I’d think more highly of you knowing that you’re married. Arthur doesn’t prevent a married man from taking a honey trap assignment if he chooses to, but he also doesn’t assign them to married men.”

Lee whooshed out a breath. “That’s a huge relief. The moral side…”

Merlin interrupted. “While we hope most missions will end quietly without any deaths or even injuries, we are training you so that you will kill if it’s necessary. If you’re concerned about your morals, be concerned about that side of it.”

“I volunteered to be a Royal Marines. I’ve known that I could kill an enemy for a long time.”

“And if you end up killing an innocent?”

Lee shook his head. “Probably less risk of that here than there was as a marine commando.”

Merlin said, “Think it through. If you don’t think you can handle the moral side, there are other jobs within the organization.”

“Are you suggesting I quit? Do you think someone of my social station shouldn’t be at the table?”

Merlin chuckled. “No, I’m not suggesting that you quit. I think it would be a real loss if you did. You have an excellent shot at being the last man standing in this cohort. And as far as social station goes, mine’s probably lower than yours, if we’re looking at where we were born. I was Galahad’s nomination for agent just over twelve years ago.”

“So why aren’t you one of them?”

“None of your business. When they were looking for a new Merlin, I was remembered and eventually voted into the job.”

“Do the others know that there are other positions?”

“Generally not until they wash out and are offered something. _If_ they’re offered something.”

“I’ll keep quiet then. I haven’t told any of them that I’m married.”

Merlin said, “Are you wondering if you need to defend yourself for not sleeping with anyone who’ll have you?”

“Um…”

“Just tell them you have standards. Nothing else should be of any consequence to them.”

“Thank you, Merlin.”

“Not a problem, Lee.”

***  
Harry had been sent out on assignment before they could have their Sunday talk. When he came back from Brno, he hadn’t sought Merlin out. They’d only seen each other at the debriefing and during the fortnightly meetings at the shop. 

So he was unprepared for Harry to come to Sunday lunch at Headquarters while the candidates were having a day in the village nearby. They sat at the table with the others who were working or otherwise at Headquarters on an early Sunday afternoon and conversed generally over venison with Cumberland sauce and Yorkshire pudding. After tea and dessert, Harry asked him if he’d like to walk off lunch on the grounds.

Merlin agreed and as they walked through the autumn air waited for Harry to start the conversation.

“I miss you.” Harry had apparently gone for the “ripping the plaster off” method of initiating a conversation.

“I’m here. I haven’t sought you out because you were closed off. I thought you weren’t interested.”

They walked a little farther heading toward one of the wooded areas that wasn’t part of the obstacle course. 

“I thought you were suggesting that we become a public couple, move in together, all the things that commitment means.”

“Harry, all I said was ‘I love you.’ I do. Oh, and I asked you to be my official contact should something happen to me away from Kingsman. I thought it would be better to have someone in London.”

Harry nodded. “It felt like you were demanding more.”

“Demanding? Have I ever demanded anything in our personal relationship? I’ve asked for something occasionally, but you’ve asked for things, too. I thought we were pretty equal.”

“We were. You know, I think the shop is my official contact. It would be better to have a person.”

“Yes. I have no problem being your contact. There may be times when I’m tempted to finish the job, of course…”

Harry chuckled. “It never occurred to me that you might be in love with me. I’ve never… wanted to be half of a couple. That’s why my university girls are perfect. I make certain they eat properly on occasion, and they make certain I have a bed partner on occasion.”

“More than occasionally. And, I’m not, you know.”

“Not what?”

“In love with you. Maybe there was a time when we could have been. Maybe there’s a future where we are, but it’s not… I love you. You’re my best friend, or were until you disappeared for the better part of two years. I love the way you fuck. But for heaven’s sake, the only commitment I want from you, you closeted bisexual, is that you don’t sleep with other men without me. Honey traps are an exception of course, for both of us. I don’t care about the women in your life. I just feel like I could do with someone acknowledged in my life.”

“I don’t.”

“Don’t…?”

“Sleep with other men. Other than honey traps, I don’t think I’ve tried to pull a man since before the Erec cohort. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had offers…”

Merlin snorted a laugh. “I’m certain you have. And I must admit I’m a little shocked. I thought you liked cock too much to go without it for twenty months.”

“I do. I even tried to see if I could suck my own. The experiment wasn’t successful. Not bendy enough.”

Merlin leaned against a tree he was laughing so hard.

Harry smiled at him and stood with his back to the tree. “It was a combination of things, you know. One of my ladies was doing rather more than hinting about marriage.”

“Jemima?”

“She did a little, but it was Martina who pushed.”

“Ah.”

“And… I guess the idea of committing to a single male lover and the next of kin question…”

Merlin said, “You don’t know how much I’ve regretted bringing them up during the same conversation.”

“How would you see it working?”

“Spend an occasional weekend together out of town. See a play together occasionally. Stay the night when we want to. Not much different from where we were before, just acknowledging that we have a place in each other’s lives.”

Harry started to walk away. He turned and tilted his head, inviting Merlin to walk beside him. Merlin fell into step with him and they silently went deeper into the woods.

“I’ve never acknowledged that I was close to another person. Not once. Not even at university. You have relationships.”

“Clive was mostly sex. Roy… I don’t know. I don’t think I’d had anyone regular in my life since Edinburgh, other than you. When I realized that, I thought I should acknowledge it. Tell you what I saw us as. I wasn’t shocked that you didn’t see it the same way, didn’t feel the same, but I _was_ shocked that you just walked out of my apartment and never really came back.”

“I think I left a sweater there.”

Merlin chuckled, and they kept walking until Harry pushed him back against a tree and kissed him. It was slow and hot, and they both moaned into it.

Harry broke it and rested his forehead against Merlin’s. “I don’t know that I’m capable of a deep love, but I do love you. And when I say I missed you, I didn’t just mean this,” he kissed Merlin gently, “I meant all of you. No one else fills your sarky bastard quotient.”

Merlin said, “Why now, Harry? It’s been, what, three months since you came to my apartment when I was hungover from absinthe.”

“I think that was when I realized, not that I’d hurt you -- I knew that I had -- but that I missed you like a limb. I don’t really have anyone to be quiet with. I certainly don’t laugh as much without you.” He leaned in close, his voice low in Merlin’s ear, “And no one has ever taken me apart the way you have.”

Merlin turned his head and kissed Harry. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Well, we fill in the next of kin information. And then I tell Audrey that I can’t see her this weekend and you come over to mine.”

“Harry, I’m on duty here. I don’t care if the cameras see you coming to my room and leaving in the morning. Do you?”

He thought for a minute. “No. When the cohort is over, though, can we make my place our main base?”

“I can cook at mine.”

“I have a perfectly well stocked kitchen. It will be nice to see it in use.”

Merlin sighed. “All right. So, Friday here? Saturday we’re planting candidates all over Britain. I probably won’t be available for most of the day.”

“I do have to pick up Mister Pickle from the taxidermists Saturday. I’ll come back afterward.”

Merlin shook his head. “I do worry, sometimes, about the number of dead things you have around yourself.”

Harry smirked.

***  
The orienteering/living off the land week had gone rather well. No one washed out. Merlin increased the pressure in other areas in order to whittle down to the final six.

The group had thinned down to five rather than six for the HAHO jump. The timing had to be nearly perfect, but Merlin and Arthur had decided that anywhere on the grounds they could make a clean landing -- including the driving track -- would be an acceptable landing. The closer to the house, the higher the standings.

In the event, Richard had been called out of practice for the jump two weeks earlier and told that his father and older brother had been killed in a skiing accident in New Zealand. He was going to have to take the title and there was no way the Duke of Wight could blend in as a Kingsman.

Adrian washed out on the jump by not making it. He spoke to Merlin afterward and admitted he’d just frozen with a bone deep fear. Merlin softened the blow of washing out by offering him a spot with Morgan’s group. He had an aptitude for languages which would make him a good fit. Adrian grinned as he accepted the offer.

James, Geoffrey, and Lee made it into the final three. The other candidate, Henry, had landed in Hampstead Heath.

***  
The following months were frustrating for everyone at Kingsman. It took six weeks before there was a test which Geoffrey failed, and they were down to the final two. 

Then there were more tests, different tests every fortnight, and James and Lee kept passing them, usually within a point of each other. Privately, Merlin thought that Lee’s quiet nature would ultimately work better for Kingsman. Arthur was still tutting about his accent.

It was finally decided they would go on an atypical Kingsman mission. Usually, a Kingsman blended in by being such a perfect idea of an Englishman that no one noticed they were also stealing the plans, thwarting the scheme, or righting the government. Afterward, someone might remember a well-dressed man who was part of the scene, but the memory would be so nebulous that a fix could never be made on Kingsman.

Every once in awhile though, a branch of some government would discreetly approach Kingsman for a more straightforward type of job: interrogation, assassination, or devastation. Merlin had planned it, but Arthur insisted that Harry lead it. 

Merlin spoke to Arthur privately, arguing for another knight -- one who hadn’t proposed one of the candidates -- but no one else could speak enough Arabic for the job. 

Arthur said, “I know you think you should lead it. Certainly, your abilities are not in question in that area, but you need to be able to evaluate the candidates and you can’t do that well if you’re in charge of the entire operation. Galahad is one of our best.”

“I know, sir. We’ll be ready to leave in an hour.”

“It’s not that urgent. I’ve told the helicopter pilots to report at seven tomorrow morning.”

“Then I’ll inform the candidates at oh-six hundred that they’ll have to be packed and ready for wheels up by quarter to.”

“Perfect, Merlin.”

***  
Harry insisted that he needed to go alone to meet Lee’s widow and inform her of his death. Merlin let him have that space. He didn’t know if he’d have missed the grenade as Harry had. It was impossible to play “what if” with these types of scenarios. 

He prepared a simple meal, a coq au vin variation that he knew Harry was fond of. It would keep if he were late returning from the meeting.

Merlin looked up when Harry came in the door. He’d never seen him so ashen, not even when he was nearly exsanguinated on the mission in Romania. 

Harry said, “Should we have sherry with the meal?”

“That would be fine, Harry.”

He brought the bowls to the table and saw that Harry’s hand was shaking. He covered it with his own. “What happened?”

“She screamed at me. Hit my hand away when I tried to give her the medal. It was just as bad as I feared.”

Merlin said, “Then what?”

“His son, Eggsy he’s called, just sat there playing with a snow globe. When I finally gave the medal to him, my heart broke. He doesn’t understand, yet. He hadn’t seen his father in months, so I don’t know what Lee not coming back will mean to him in the immediate future, but… Merlin, he looked at me with so much trust and accepted the medal so quietly. I think that will haunt me more than his mother’s wailing.”

“I wish I’d come, too.”

“No. Be glad you’re out of it.”

Merlin nodded. “Although, from what Lee said the few times we discussed family, I think I’d have liked his Eggsy.”


End file.
